Technology has progressed more during the last 150 years than during any other time in history. Integral to this innovation has been the exploitation of the properties exhibited by both new and existing materials. For example, silicon, being a semiconductor, has been transformed into processors; and steel, having a high tensile strength, has been used to construct the skeletons of skyscrapers. Future innovations will similarly depend on exploiting the useful properties of new and existing materials.
A material's usefulness depends on its application. A material exhibiting a combination of useful properties is especially useful as it may enable or improve some technology. For example, computer processors rely on multitudes of transistors, each of which outputs a voltage equivalent to a binary 1 or 0 depending on its input. Few materials are suitable as transistors. But semiconductor materials have unique properties that facilitate a transistor's binary logic, making semiconductors especially useful for computer hardware.
Technology will continue to progress. Engineers and scientists will continue creating novel inventions. Implementing these ideas will depend on materials that can be configured to behave in new and desirable ways.